Denver?! I Don't Even Know Her!!
May 28-29, 2006
For most of this tour, the police of America have been unkind to the Blood Arm. There have been speeding tickets in Ohio and Michigan—three of them—harassment at the border, and general intimidation at the venues. (I opened the door for an officer in Chicago, and he thanked me with a sinister glare.) We have lived in fear of the police.
Not in Denver.
We do not live in fear of the police in Denver because the police in Denver are the friendliest in the entire U.S.A. Yesterday, Tour Manager Jen was walking to the grocery store a few blocks from our hotel. It was somewhat late in the evening. A police car pulled aside her. “Where you going?” asked the officer inside.
“To the grocery store,” she replied, shuddering; it was cold and she was afraid.
“Need a ride?”
Now, Jen did not take the officer up on his offer because she firmly believes in never accepting car rides from strangers and she was afraid that if she accepted, her body would be found in a lake weeks later. He offered her a ride, just to be nice. We discussed it later as a group, and decided that the policeman was either up to no good, or a friendly exception to the general rule.
Then tonight, at the show in the Gothic Theater, a uniformed man in blue approached me at the merch booth. I stuffed the money we earned in my sock, expecting him to try to extort it as part of some kind of “protection” deal. Instead, the man eyed a TBA CD and asked, “What kind of music is this?” Then he bought it for his daughter and shook my hand. It was uncanny. Two nice policemen in two days.
Finally, to make this Denver police ice cream the total milkshake, we were pulled over upon leaving the venue. The officer very politely asked for Jen’s license and registration, made a cute joke about driving a Florida vehicle full of people from Los Angeles in Denver, and told Jen our high beams were on, and it might be good to turn them down. Then he wished us a “great, safe trip.” I, for one, will never fear a Denver police officer again. They are the best ever.
Other fun things that happened in Denver, besides our run-ins with the police:
-Dyan and Nathaniel were grabbed by John (the Charlatans’ drummer) immediately upon exiting the stage. In a drunken frenzy, he started jumping up and down, screaming, “I like all the girls/ all the girls like me.” (This, of course, is the chorus to ‘Suspicious Character,’ the Blood Arm’s upcoming single.) It was horrifying, hilarious, and heartwarming, all at once.
-Alcohol!
Alright, one more show with the Charlatans in SLC, then we’re off to the UK!
xxxooo,
Ben Lee
For most of this tour, the police of America have been unkind to the Blood Arm. There have been speeding tickets in Ohio and Michigan—three of them—harassment at the border, and general intimidation at the venues. (I opened the door for an officer in Chicago, and he thanked me with a sinister glare.) We have lived in fear of the police.
Not in Denver.
We do not live in fear of the police in Denver because the police in Denver are the friendliest in the entire U.S.A. Yesterday, Tour Manager Jen was walking to the grocery store a few blocks from our hotel. It was somewhat late in the evening. A police car pulled aside her. “Where you going?” asked the officer inside.
“To the grocery store,” she replied, shuddering; it was cold and she was afraid.
“Need a ride?”
Now, Jen did not take the officer up on his offer because she firmly believes in never accepting car rides from strangers and she was afraid that if she accepted, her body would be found in a lake weeks later. He offered her a ride, just to be nice. We discussed it later as a group, and decided that the policeman was either up to no good, or a friendly exception to the general rule.
Then tonight, at the show in the Gothic Theater, a uniformed man in blue approached me at the merch booth. I stuffed the money we earned in my sock, expecting him to try to extort it as part of some kind of “protection” deal. Instead, the man eyed a TBA CD and asked, “What kind of music is this?” Then he bought it for his daughter and shook my hand. It was uncanny. Two nice policemen in two days.
Finally, to make this Denver police ice cream the total milkshake, we were pulled over upon leaving the venue. The officer very politely asked for Jen’s license and registration, made a cute joke about driving a Florida vehicle full of people from Los Angeles in Denver, and told Jen our high beams were on, and it might be good to turn them down. Then he wished us a “great, safe trip.” I, for one, will never fear a Denver police officer again. They are the best ever.
Other fun things that happened in Denver, besides our run-ins with the police:
-Dyan and Nathaniel were grabbed by John (the Charlatans’ drummer) immediately upon exiting the stage. In a drunken frenzy, he started jumping up and down, screaming, “I like all the girls/ all the girls like me.” (This, of course, is the chorus to ‘Suspicious Character,’ the Blood Arm’s upcoming single.) It was horrifying, hilarious, and heartwarming, all at once.
-Alcohol!
Alright, one more show with the Charlatans in SLC, then we’re off to the UK!
xxxooo,
Ben Lee
posted by BLOOD AMBITION 2008 at 7:20 PM
3 Comments:
how did ben lee get so awesome?
he is totally awesome- i'm having fun reading
Thanks for the updates
hello!! the blood arm is absolutely terrific! i've been telling everyone about you guys here in victoria and i think i can safely say that the blood arm are here to stay. these posts are awesome man, keep it up ben lee. PLEASE IF YOU LOVE YOUR FANS COME TO VICTORIA BC CANADA =D. i would do anything to see you guys live. sorry for this long post!
-David h
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